Do You Live in Carmarthen Street?
Working with Adult Education in Gloucestershire, the Archives has created a distance learning module that you can work through to find out more about carrying out house history. This module specifically looks at the history of Carmarthen Street from its initial development in the later 19th Century. It shows how a picture of the Street’s history can be built up using maps, planning records, street directories, electoral rolls, and rating and valuation records. The module is free to access, and shouldn’t take more than an hour to work through. All the resources illustrated in the module are available to view at Gloucestershire Archives.
Send your name and email address to: archives@gloucestershire.gov.uk and we will enrol you!
Six short films were created to provide snapshots of the history of the Street using the resources mentioned above. You can access the films here.
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A comment received from Mike Payne:
I, too, was intrigued by the Welsh influence in the naming of Carmarthen Street and its two neighbours Llandilo Street and Dynevor Street. In the advertisement of 1890 offering the development plots for sale the area was referred to as the Dynevor estate, and I think therein lies the key.
Dynevor (or Dynefwr in Welsh) is a 12th Century castle near the town of Llandilo in Carmarthenshire. In 1780 William Talbot, who was already Earl Talbot, was created 1st Baron Dynevor of Dynevor with a special remainder to his daughter. As he had no male heirs the earldom become extinct on his death in 1782 but his daughter became the second Baroness Dynevor. She had married Edward Rice and their first son George Talbot Rice became MP for Carmarthenshire and, on his mother’s death in 1793, he became 3rd Baron Dynevor. Despite his Welsh connections and becoming Lord Lieutenant for Carmarthenshire, by 1851 he had moved to Barrington Park in Gloucestershire, supposedly for his health. His six unmarried daughters later lived in Matson House. The 3rd Baron died in 1852 and his son George, who was by then MP for Carmarthenshire, became the 4th Baron. As he had no male heirs on his death in 1869 the title passed to his cousin Francis.
The second son of the second Baroness Dynevor, Edward Rice, was an ordained minister and had become Dean of Gloucester and was obviously well established in College Green. His eldest son Francis had also entered the ministry and in 1827 became Vicar of Fairford. He must have been quite surprised when in 1869 he inherited the title of the 5th Baron Dynevor. Despite his ennoblement he remained vicar of Fairford until his death in 1878. His eldest son Arthur became the 6th Baron and was received in Wales with great acclaim, taking up residence in Dynevor Castle.
I imagine the family’s strong connection with Gloucestershire was instrumental in the naming of the three Tredworth Roads. Interestingly the town of Llandilo later decided to change its name to the older form – Llandeilo, but Gloucester obviously never followed suit!
Can I offer a few thoughts about the commentary made by the presenter of the videos.
I do not believe the area was similar to the Newtown shanty development because the advert mentioned above refers to the plot as the “late St. Michael’s Nursery Gardens” which implies a more formal use of the land. I imagine the structure shown on the 1:500 map was most likely a gardener’s bothy. Incidentally the building sites were being sold by King Brothers of Barton Street, who had been responsible for the building of St Paul’s Church in Stroud Road.
I realise the commentary was a bit “off the cuff” but the cemetery pointed out on the 25” map was Tredworth Cemetery, not Coney Hill and the school was Hatherley not St James.
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